Jonathan Edwards

A brilliant scholar who entered Yale at age 13 already fluent in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, Jonathan Edwards led many of the revivals during the period of the Great Awakening in the early 1740's. Edwards is perhaps best known for his "fire and brimstone" approach to preaching which emphasized the sovereignty of God, the depravity of humankind, the reality of hell, and the necessity of a conversion experience. His powerful sermons relied on strong rhetoric intended to elicit an emotional response from listeners. Experience the reasoning of the great Puritan philosopher in his sermons, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," the most famous sermon in American history, and "Pardon for the Greatest of Sinners."